music player

Apple has introduced the iPod touch 6th-gen, faster and with higher resolution cameras front and back, along with new colors for all of its iPods. The new iPod touch is priced from $199, keeping its 4-inch display but now powered by an Apple A8 processor that, the company says, will run graphics 10x as fast as its aging predecessor. Meanwhile, there are new fitness features along with, of course, support for Apple Music.

Sonos and Spotify have long been a popular pairing, and now a new beta unlocks features like Spotify Radio, genres, and moods through the Sonos Controller. The beta, launching for Android users today but expected to roll out more broadly over the next few weeks, builds on Sonos' existing, rather rudimentary integration of the Spotify catalog, which currently allows users to navigate their playlists as well as search through all albums and artists.

Sonos has pushed out a new beta for its streaming music platform, promising to add a new degree of musicality to its Playbar soundbar, as well as adding multi-account support for streaming services and improvements to the Android app. Sonos 5.2 isn't expected to go public until later in 2014, but Sonos has opened it up as a public beta today. Perhaps the most useful change for those living in a Sonos-equipped home or office, but not wanting to give shared access to their Spotify or other streaming account, is the news that you can now register multiple accounts under different logins.

Sonos is testing Android Wear support for its whole-home music platform, allowing wearers of smartwatches running Google's platform to quickly control playback. The new functionality would mean listeners could access play/pause controls as well as skip tracks forward and back from their wrist, and is currently being trialled for participants of the Sonos Beta program who also have an Android Wear device such as the Moto 360.

Korg has revealed a new addition to its Volca range of modular, iPhone and iPad-friendly electronic instruments, with the Korg Volca Sampler promising easier real-time recording and tweaking of sound clips and vocal snatches. The sampler can be used in conjunction with the initial three Volca units - the Keys, Bass, and Loops - or as a standalone system, with motion sequencer recording for its various physical knobs and buttons, and battery power plus a speaker for on-the-move playing.

A pair of unannounced Sonos products have been heralded with trademark filings, the Sonos Boost and Playbase, though exactly what they might be is still unclear. Sonos' wireless music streaming system has for many been the go-to option for multi-zone entertainment, though in recent months has been under attack from rivals like LG's Music Flow.

Google has baked streaming music into search, adding links to popular players like Spotify and YouTube for searches involving musicians. The new functionality sees a link added to mobile searches on Android devices in the US, tied into whatever compatible apps are currently loaded on the phone.

Aether's unusually-shaped Cone speaker, a streaming music player that promises smart curation of tracks, will launch with Rdio and Stitcher as sources, the start-up has confirmed. Revealed back in March, the distinctive speaker prioritizes machine learning rather than active control over playlists, with Aether promising to learn the listener's preferences and tailor what's streaming to suit.

We have been talking about the PonoPlayer since 2012, and in this two-year span we have got to know just about everything about the player, save the tech-specs. The brainchild of musician Neil Young, the player has gone on to become the third-highest grosser in Kickstarter history, lagging behind the Pebble smartwatch and the OUYA video game console. The campaign managed to raise $6,225,354 to be precise.

A team of former Google employees are taking on Sonos with a new music streamer, aiming to do for whole-home media playback what Google's own Chromecast did for easy video access. Beep is up for preorder now, a stylized volume knob that's actually a touch-sensitive control, and which funnels music over your WiFi network to whichever speakers you plug in. Then, using Beep's control apps for iOS and Android, users can pipe audio from Pandora and their phone or tablet.